Award Abstract # 1338574
Meeting: SICB 2014 parasitic manipulation symposium, Austin, Texas, 3-7 January 2014

NSF Org: IOS
Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems
Recipient: THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS RIO GRANDE VALLEY
Initial Amendment Date: September 13, 2013
Latest Amendment Date: September 13, 2013
Award Number: 1338574
Award Instrument: Standard Grant
Program Manager: Michelle Elekonich
melekoni@nsf.gov
 (703)292-7202
IOS
 Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems
BIO
 Directorate for Biological Sciences
Start Date: September 15, 2013
End Date: August 31, 2014 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $12,238.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $12,238.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2013 = $12,238.00
History of Investigator:
  • Zen Faulkes (Principal Investigator)
    zen.faulkes@utrgv.edu
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
1201 W UNIVERSITY DR
EDINBURG
TX  US  78539-2909
(956)665-2889
Sponsor Congressional District: 15
Primary Place of Performance: University of Texas - Pan American
TX  US  78539-2999
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
15
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): L3ATVUT2KNK7
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): Animal Behavior
Primary Program Source: 01001314DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s): 9179
Program Element Code(s): 765900
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.074

ABSTRACT

This award supports the symposium "Parasitic manipulation of host phenotype, or how to make a zombie", to be held at the annual Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology conference on 3-7 January 2014, in Austin, Texas. Parasitism is the most popular lifestyle on the planet, so much so that nearly all animals are infected by parasites. Many parasites change the behaviors of the animals in which they live in ways that help the parasites. For example, one species of fungus makes ants it infects leave the ant colony, climb up to a leaf, clamp its jaws on a leaf, and stay there until the ant dies in just the right place for the fungus to spread its spores. This sort of ability to control a host far surpasses anything biologists have been able to achieve, so parasites may have much to teach us about how to change behaviors. This symposium will bring together twelve scientists from around the world to give presentations, with the goal of understanding how parasites can change the behavior of their hosts, and what the consequences of those behavioral changes might be. The symposium will help bring in expertise from outside of the field of parasitology (including behavioral ecologists, immunologists, neurobiologists, ecologists, invertebrate biologists, vertebrate biologists, and evolutionary biologists) to provide a more complete picture of how parasites manipulate their hosts. There are plans for a complementary workshop on parasite identification (geared towards students) and a poster session to the symposium, allowing others to present related findings. Papers from the symposium will be published in the journal Integrative and Comparative Biology. Parasite manipulation is routinely featured in popular press, and science journalists are interested in covering this event.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

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(Showing: 1 - 10 of 13)
B. L. Fredensborg "Predictors of Host Specificity among Behavior-Manipulating Parasites" Integrative and Comparative Biology , v.54 , 2014 , p.149 10.1093/icb/icu051
Broox G. V. Boze and Janice Moore "The Effect of a Nematode Parasite on Feeding and Dung-Burying Behavior of an Ecosystem Engineer" Integrative and Comparative Biology , v.54 , 2014 , p.177 10.1093/icb/icu017
Charissa de Bekker, Martha Merrow, and David P. Hughes "From Behavior to Mechanisms: An Integrative Approach to the Manipulation by a Parasitic Fungus (Ophiocordyceps unilateralis s.l.) of Its Host Ants (Camponotus spp.)" Integrative and Comparative Biology , v.54 , 2014 , p.166 10.1093/icb/icu063
David P. Hughes "On the Origins of Parasite-Extended Phenotypes" Integrative and Comparative Biology , v.54 , 2014 , p.210 10.1093/icb/icu079
Dhanashree A. Paranjpe, Dianna Medina, Erica Nielsen, Robert D. Cooper, Sharayu A. Paranjpe, and Barry Sinervo "Does Thermal Ecology Influence Dynamics of Side-Blotched Lizards and Their Micro-Parasites?" Integrative and Comparative Biology , v.54 , 2014 , p.108 10.1093/icb/icu069
Frederic Libersat and Ram Gal "Wasp Voodoo Rituals, Venom-Cocktails, and the Zombification of Cockroach Hosts" Integrative and Comparative Biology , v.54 , 2014 , p.129 10.1093/icb/icu006
Kelly L. Weinersmith, Chloe B. Warinner, Virginia Tan, David J. Harris, Adrienne B. Mora, Armand M. Kuris, Kevin D. Lafferty, and Ryan F. Hechinger "A Lack of Crowding? Body Size Does Not Decrease with Density for Two Behavior-Manipulating Parasites" Integrative and Comparative Biology , v.54 , 2014 , p.184 10.1093/icb/icu081
Kelly Weinersmith and Zen Faulkes "Parasitic Manipulation of Hosts? Phenotype, or How to Make a Zombie?An Introduction to the Symposium" Integrative and Comparative Biology , v.54 , 2014 , p.93 10.1093/icb/icu028
K. E. Mauck, C. M. De Moraes, and M. C. Mescher "Evidence of Local Adaptation in Plant Virus Effects on Host?Vector Interactions" Integrative and Comparative Biology , v.54 , 2014 , p.193 10.1093/icb/icu012
Meera Joseph and Zen Faulkes "Nematodes Infect, But Do Not Manipulate Digging By, Sand Crabs, Lepidopa benedicti" Integrative and Comparative Biology , v.54 , 2014 , p.101 10.1093/icb/icu064
M. Kaushik, S. C. L. Knowles, and J. P. Webster "What Makes a Feline Fatal in Toxoplasma gondii?s Fatal Feline Attraction? Infected Rats Choose Wild Cats" Integrative and Comparative Biology , v.54 , 2014 , p.118 10.1093/icb/icu060
(Showing: 1 - 10 of 13)

PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT

Disclaimer

This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

Intellectual merit

The symposium, “Parasitic Manipulation of Host Phenotype, or How to Make a Zombie” was held on 6 January 2014 at the annual meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology in Austin, Texas. Eleven speakers from five countries were scheduled to give presentations. (One scheduled speaker was unable to attend due to flight cancellations caused by a polar vortex affecting northeastern North America at the time.) The symposium was well attended throughout the day.

Additionally, there was a set of oral presentations (six talks) and poster presentations (two posters) that were complementary to the symposium.

A workshop on parasite manipulation, featuring many speakers from the symposium, was held on the evening of the symposium to provide training and professional development for researchers.

Following the symposium, thirteen papers were published in the journal Integrative and Comparative Biology (Volume 54, number 2, published July 2014). An image from one of the papers was featured on the cover. The collection of papers provides a snapshot of the current state of research on parasites, and outlines useful directions for future research.

Broader impacts

To help make the presentations more accessible to those not able to attend the SICB meeting, the co-organizers, Zen Faulkes and Kelly Weinersmith (@DoctorZen and @FuSchmu on Twitter, respectively), tweeted notes from the presentations using the #SICB hashtag.

The symposium was featured in a news article in the journal Science (Pennisi E. 2014. Parasitic puppeteers begin to yield their secrets. Science 343(6168): 239. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.343.6168.239).

Some the resulting papers in Integrative and Comparative Biology were published open access, so they can be read by anyone with an internet connection.

The symposium, and papers based on work at the symposium, featured research by very early career scientists. One of the Integrative and Comparative Biology papers arising from the symposium was co-authored by an Hispanic female undergraduate, and two papers were co-authored by female students who performed the work in the paper while still in high school.


Last Modified: 10/17/2014
Modified by: Zen Faulkes